Does Your Dog Spite You?

I said he’ll never make it to election day, that he will drop from the race with some excuse about why he can’t run.

The response was interesting. Some emails I received were pro-Trump and some were very anti-Trump.

I made the prediction because I really don’t believe he wants the office of President. So why would he put all this time and effort into something he does not want?

You have to look at his underlying reasons for doing this. You see, what he wants is….

…..publicity.

In the past week Trump has gotten millions and millions of dollars worth of free publicity.

His mug has been on every TV station, newspaper, radio and social media site.

You may be wondering what this has to do with the furry creatures that run around out house that we call our best friends.

A lot!

It can be difficult for us to really understand what the dog’s underlying reason for doing a behavior is.

Everyday some writes or calls to tell me that their dog did a behavior to “get back at them.”

“My dog chewed my shoes because I left him alone all day.”

“I came home to a big pile of poop because my dog is mad at me.”

Just like Trump’s real, underlying reason for running for president is to get free publicity, your dog’s real underlying reason for doing a certain behavior is because it serves a purpose for the dog at that time.

A dog hanging around the house all day will look to find a shoe, sniff it, lick it and then chew it because dogs love to chew on things.

It is as simple as that.

The dog does not lay there thinking: “Jeez, I’m kind of mad that I am left here all day. How come I have to sit in this boring house while he gets to go out and have all the fun? I think I am going to find something of his and wreck it. Oh good, here is his shoe.”

It’s important to understand your dog’s real reason for doing behaviors because if we think our dogs are being spiteful, we punish the dog long after the behavior occurred.

This is very dangerous and can lead to big problems.

So if your dog is doing behaviors you don’t like when you are not around it is much better to manage than to punish.

Always remember to look for the underlying real reason for the behavior.